Data nerd to pay the bills; recently moved into a new role and SO MUCH happier

Fitness (outside the studio) focuses are doing upper body, gymnastics-y work (read: playing with rings) and eating to get a bit leaner than I am currently (for both dance and vanity)

Have some habitual problems with getting to bed on time / generally making my rest time the most restful

To that end, I’m aiming for solidifying some spotty habits this go-around. And also fleshing out some habits I've been inspired to start from reading "Deep Work" by Cal Newport (great book, 10/10 would recommend to most people). On holiday til 09/16, so I'll start this stuff 09/16 or 09/17 (depending how energetic I feel after getting off the plane on 09/16).

Sisu: (Updated from MH's guidance) Basically, the idea of toughing out inconveniences to do the things you want to do in life, not getting stopped by adversity but instead figuring out ways around it. Basically, using this as an all-encompassing spot for doing the hard things I need to do that will lead to success, both at office work and on the dance floor:

Arrive at the office by 7 for a 7-9 am "Deep work" block of time (headphones on, coffee in hand, at computer without email or IM's open, focused on most important data and/or business case task); carve out a 2nd time block every day and ruthlessly prioritize so I'm out by 4:30 every day (3 on Fridays); in a nutshell, get the important crap done, be liberal with saying no to unimportant crap

Start every dance practice and class (taking or teaching) with the right mindset - I'm going to get critiques and be asked to do hard things, and that's good; put my phone on airplane mode (still using it for music); write a quick reflection in my notebook at the end to crystallize learnings

Do the conditioning needed for dance: 3x / week strength work every week (core / upper body, plus strengthening weak spots in the legs); foot strengthening drills 3x / week;foot stretches every day (usually in the evening, shift to morning on weekends)

Finish first data science micro masters course by the end of the challenge - I found a data science online "micro masters" from MIT (5 courses total, 1 course at a time, $300 / course - feels like about the right level of commitment for what I'm looking to do in terms of professional development right now) - first course wraps up sometime in Mid-October and I'm excited!

Hygge: (paraphrased from MH's thread, again, Scandis throat punch me if I messed it up) embracing the cozy and pleasant things in every day life. Using this as a catch all for building some relaxing rituals into my llife:

Light a candle every evening as part of daily wind-down ritual (will need to make a trip to Target for some unscented candles so I don't suffocate from burning tons of scented ones)

Pray / meditate / reflect by candlelight every evening - I really get clarity from slowing down and just being with my thoughts, but so rarely carve out time to do it - I want to make this a habit!

Read when I feel like it - trying to never force reading so it never feels like work, but I almost always enjoy it when I do crack open a book

Lagom: (according to SF) just the right amount of a thing. Using this as a category for getting the right amounts of body maintenance work, sleep, food, socialization, and distraction in my life:

Stretch and/or self-massage every evening - body feels way better when I do this on the regular, especially with adding more direct back work into my dancing (yay, body action!)

7.5+ hours of sleep every night OR find time for a nap (mainly on the weekends) - again, this seems to be the right amount of sleep for me; only challenge here will be cutting off social time after dance practice if practice itself wraps up late

2,500-2,700 cals / day, 120+ g protein, 300+ g carbs - this seems to be the right amount to train like crazy while still cutting; will adjust this as needed if cut is progressing quicker than expected (I haven't been following it well, so not 100% sure where the cutting / maintenance lines are these days); I've been hitting these numbers some days and it hasn't been too bad, just need to have good snacks around for when cravings strike late in the evening

2-3 social things / week; 1+ small talk with someone every day - again, aiming for just the right amount of social time as I can get burnt out by too many social occasions, but too little and I start to feel like a lonely, grumpy hermit. Small talk especially is a good thing to goal-ify for me, I genuinely enjoy feeling more connected to co-workers and dance studio acquaintances but don't always go out of my way to connect

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If you look in a dictionary "lagom" is translated to the English word "moderate", and that may be literally true (sort of) but it's not the actual meaning of it. When you have a lagom amount of something, you have the exact right amount, no matter what that amount is. So if someone asks you how much creamer you want in your coffee, and you say "oh, just lagom, thanks" you want "not too much, but not too little either". And everyone who grew up with lagom would put the correct amount of creamer in your coffee, no matter how much coffee or how much creamer they're working with at the time.

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Yes the concept can be applied to most things, both on a macro and micro scale.

Personally I don’t really like the English translation as it’s not taking account all the subtleties of lagom. I also find that moderate has this connotation of restriction in it, with lagom there’s no restriction, it’s just the correct, satisfying amount.

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Yes the concept can be applied to most things, both on a macro and micro scale.

Personally I don’t really like the English translation as it’s not taking account all the subtleties of lagom. I also find that moderate has this connotation of restriction in it, with lagom there’s no restriction, it’s just the correct, satisfying amount.

It’s also a fucking annoying answer.

Exactly! I agree on everything you said about how translating it into "moderate" just does not work.

In addition to being an annoying answer, trying to explain what Lagom means/is, to native English speakers who speak only English, can be both difficult and frustrating